[Closed] Back from the Shed... [PIC]

Very Nice.....

Very nice indeed. I have a Handjob (same geometry i believe) and love swapping between that and my Zesty. Although i'm too now thinking the hardtail needs a shorter stem!

My ST4 has a 70mm stem and 710mm bars 🙂 Problem for me is I have short legs/long body and love the Cove as I do, it has quite a short Top Tube.

But I might swap over the stuff from the ST4 after trying it tonight to see how it feels. Just test riding it on the road reminded me of how much fun it it to ride.

I swapped to a FS due to back issues basically, but it's always nice to have different bikes to ride.

Alex, I'd just like to say thanks for [i]pickled hedgehog[/i] post you wrote on this, it's just placed my own bike ownership conundrums in some very useful perspective.

I've pieced it back together with spares/cleaned up forgotten stuff and a few castoffs

If those are castoffs what the hell's on your ST4? 😯

Nice looking machine, although it looks the same in both pics?

That's tidy looking.

What year frame is that? Looks similar to the 2008 but no window gussets?

Are those Rebas you've got on there? How do they suit the frame?

It's a 2007 I think. Bought it in 2008 second hand from here. I did have an air u-turn rev on there but it failed twice (motion control) and Wiggle very generously sent me a new Reba.

Rode it first time tonight and it was fab. 120mm feels like the sweet spot. Really enjoyed riding a HT again. See if I can walk in the morning.

Steve - same bike, two angles....

I say cast-offs, some came off my (on ebay) old Kona such as the cranks, mechs, shifters, etc, other stuff I just had hanging around. I probably have too much bike stuff 😉

ADH. You want to feel better about your bike ownership? Read This: http://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=373 and that's 3 years ago. The madness continues!

he he - I was well aware of the fact you were worse than me in terms of sheer numbers, but it was more the 'My mistake was to confuse mileage with usefulness' that was a slave to my tortured soul.

Ah yes I see now. Well an old riding pal of mine always said "it's not about the miles, it's about the smiles". I think there is a lot in that 🙂

Lovely little page that Alex, I can associate with some of that.

Looking at some of your ownerships I'd be interested to hear how you think the Hummer compares to the Soul and both to the PA?

Hmm. The PA was great fun, felt a little over-built until you started to go quite fast. I remember a fantastic descent in the peaks chasing a FS when it just came alive. Big tyres, big forks, lots of fun but really needed the speed to get the best out of it.

The Soul I never really got on with. It was definitely "whippier", lighter, flexier (but not in a bad way) and sharper handling. But for some reason I never quite felt confident in the front end. Probably some of this is reflective as it's the bike I crashed in 2007 and ripped my knee open which required hospitlisation!

The Cove is just brilliant really. Bit like the PA, faster you go the better it is, but with none of the limitations. It's light, stiff when you pedal but there is a bit of that ti zing in it. It is also the most neutral/best handling bike I've ever ridden.

There are all great bikes depending on what you want. In the hands of a really decent rider any of them can be ridden really fast. The high water mark when I am riding ain't the bike tho!

I guess I stil have the Cove so that probably tells you which one I like best. last year I took it over the black mountains one day and then ragged it round some FoD singletrack the next. I think that's a pretty good summary of why I'll never sell it!

I've lost count of the number of bikes you've had Alex - even down to forgetting what bike you had when we met up for a Chilterns ride a couple of years ago...

What the hell was I doing back in the Chilterns again? Are you sure it was me? 🙂 I've lost count as well. But I feel I am finally beginning to hone my selection criteria. But that's a bit like saying "I used to smoke 50 a day but now I've cut down massively to 47"

I really don't want any more bikes now. Honestly. I don't want any less either whether they get ridden every day or once a year!

Nice indeed......Any pics of the ST4? I'm pondering shorter stem and wide bars for mine 🙂

[img] [/img]

Wide bars/Short Stem.

[img] [/img]

As built originally.

[img] [/img]

In use

"Problem for me is I have short legs/long body and love the Cove as I do, it has quite a short Top Tube."

I dont like short top tubes either. Litespeed OBED's are a bit longer than the hummers size for size and work very well with 140-120 forks.
Probably welded by the same bloke too.

[img] [/img]

I was looking at one of those, and something else Ti when I bought the hummer, but could not justify a new one. I'm prepared to put up with it being a bit compact, because of all the other great attributes.

ST4 is ace tho, low and long. How come it took me 30+ bikes to find one that fitted? 😉

[i]over-built until you started to go quite fast.[i/]

how would you know... 🙂